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September 26, 2026Sep 26, 2026

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mintaro Oba

Mintaro Oba

Mintaro Oba is a contributing analyst to NK Pro. He is a former Korea Desk Officer at the U.S. Department of State and has served in governmental roles in the Biden-Harris and Obama-Biden Administrations, as well as at the International Monetary Fund.

Opinion

Trump-Kim diplomacy may look unlikely. Seoul should prepare anyway

South Korea needs stronger political ‘scaffolding’ before another US-DPRK summit becomes a real possibility

Mintaro ObaMintaro ObaSeptember 10, 2026
Analysis

How Lee’s foreign policy team will manage Trump’s volatile North Korea approach

Experienced advisers helped ROK president avoid clash at first summit, with public diplomacy key to long-term success

Mintaro ObaMintaro ObaSeptember 2, 2025
Analysis

What US-North Korea policy will look like if Joe Biden gets elected president

A Biden White House would likely do a "factory reset" back to the Obama-era approach for dealing with Pyongyang

Mintaro ObaMintaro ObaAugust 10, 2020
Analysis

Great expectations: four ways a Trump-Kim meeting could happen in 2020

From “go big or go home” to a more symbolic meeting, here's how another DPRK-U.S. summit could pan out

Mintaro ObaMintaro ObaJuly 14, 2020
Analysis

From Voice of America to Voice of Trump? The future of U.S. radio in North Korea

In order to effectively bring about change in North Korea, the U.S. must avoid hyper-political programming

Mintaro ObaMintaro ObaJuly 3, 2020
Features

John Bolton’s impact on North Korea policy: nasty, brutish, and short

The former national security advisor's memoir reveals just how damaging his influence really was.

Mintaro ObaMintaro ObaJune 22, 2020
Analysis

Five ways the U.S. could respond to recent tensions on the Korean peninsula

Washington can do very little to respond to Pyongyang's provocations this time, especially give the looming election

Mintaro ObaMintaro ObaJune 18, 2020
Analysis

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail: getting ready for instability in North Korea

Plans don't always go to plan, and flexibility is needed to deal with a variety of potential scenarios in the DPRK

Mintaro ObaMintaro ObaMay 22, 2020
Analysis

How the United States can get the upper hand in talks with North Korea

Washington must be realistic about what it hopes to achieve in the short-term

Mintaro ObaMintaro ObaAugust 20, 2019
Analysis

U.S.-North Korea diplomacy: how to move beyond missed opportunities

The rhetorical gap between Trump and his advisors has stymied talks for months — that needs to change

Mintaro ObaMintaro ObaJune 17, 2019
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